Letter: Facts, not hype, will teach needed lessons.

Published Wednesday, September 28, 2005

Editor: How about a few facts concerning Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. Of course everyone knows that for over 100 years New Orleans has been a city existing on the edge of disaster because it is below sea level and hurricanes of lesser intensity breached the levees and flooded the city.

And, everyone is aware that federal funds available in the last 60 years to strengthen the levees were diverted by corrupt local politicians to line their pockets or used to benefit casino operators.

Three days prior to Katrina making landfall, President Bush called Governor Blanco and asked her to sign the papers that would have allowed FEMA and the military to get ready to assist her. She refused. He called again on Saturday and she again refused. In the meantime the Administration went ahead to be ready in case she changed her mind. Louisiana's emergency evacuation plan for New Orleans included a statement that 500 buses would be available to evacuate the city including the use of school buses. What happened to them? And what happened to the 500 New Orleans police officers that never showed up for duty whose salaries were being paid by the taxpayers? Surely an extra 500 police officers, if properly supervised, could have cut down on the looting and helped residents in distress.

Of course Mayor Nagin safely evacuated his family to Dallas. Unfortunately, other residents who lacked that resource did not have the opportunity to join them.

So before the finger-pointing and misinformation gets completely out of hand, let us hope that all the facts are put on the table and lessons can be learned that will benefit St. Johns County and all of Florida.